Is the Tasmanian tiger really extinct or as it just gone up north to soak up the sunshine in Queensland?

That's the theory researchers from James Cook University up in the far north of Queensland are working on.

They're planning on setting up more than 50 camera traps to suss out whether the elusive striped beast, which also goes by the scientific name of Thylacine, is still getting about on the sly.

This investigation came about after researchers heard reports of Tassie tiger sightings in Queensland and thought they'd better have a gander to find out once and for all if the rumours were true.

Professor Bill Laurance has had in-depth yarns with two people who, according to a uni press release, "have provided plausible and detailed descriptions of animals that could potentially be Thylacines".

It may sound far-fetched, but these reports are coming from reputable people – not just someone telling tall tales at the pub.

And it seems like they're telling anything but porkies.

"One of those observers was a long-time employee of the Queensland National Parks Service, and the other was a frequent camper and outdoorsman in north Queensland," Laurance said.

"We have cross-checked the descriptions we received of eye shine colour, body size and shape, animal behaviour, and other attributes, and these are inconsistent with known attributes of other large-bodied species in north Queensland such as dingoes, wild dogs or feral pigs."

So if they're not Tassie tigers, there could well be some other species unearthed in this study.

Scientists are tight-lipped about exactly where they are looking, but they have told us that it's generally in the Cape York Peninsula area.